


The Wait

by YMR9



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, Don't take it too seriously :P, F/F, First Kiss, Just my wishful thinking, Nursing, Post-Volume 7 (RWBY), Pre-Relationship, Rated T for swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25726582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YMR9/pseuds/YMR9
Summary: Winter dropped her gaze down to her wrapped arm. She then attempted to stand up.“Thank you for this. I have to go.”The Operative flopped back down in seconds and desperately tried to stand up again.Robyn told her. “You’re hurt, okay? You should lie down. I’m about to call Jaune to come heal you.”--ORRobyn is trying to get Winter to rest up while they wait for Jaune to arrive.
Relationships: Robyn Hill/Winter Schnee
Comments: 14
Kudos: 99





	The Wait

The sky outside of Robyn’s holding cell’s window turned into a darker shade compared to the last time she looked. Under a different circumstance, it would seem like night had fallen, but Robyn was certain it was still morning, if she did not hit her head too hard when the airship crashed, that was.

She was taken to Atlas’ prison with Qrow after regaining her consciousness and barely seeing a glimpse of what happened. She only knew that Clover was murdered and Qrow was blamed for it, so she assumed that she was being held as a witness.

If the person who was in charge of the prison was smart at all, they would have asked her to use her Semblance on Qrow and solved everything in minutes. Instead, she was stuck in this room for about an hour. Her body was still sore from the crash and she was pretty sure some of her ribs were broken, but the worst thing she was currently handling was the feeling of being useless, unable to help save Mantle from whatever that was going on out there.

Robyn was going to get up from her seat and started pacing again when the cell’s door was unlocked with a click sound. She was ready to tackle the guard just to get out of here, but the person in front of her took her by surprise, and later made her feel very alarmed.

Winter Schnee was standing up straight in her usual hands-behind-back posture, or at least she was doing the best she could in her state. There was a big gash on her nose and burn wounds on her forehead and right upper arm, her left eye was black, and Robyn’s first instinct was to rush forward in an attempt to give her some support. They were sort of old friends after all.

But as expected, Winter stepped back.

“The General is letting you go,” the white-haired woman said while handing back Robyn’s scroll and weapon.

Somehow, Robyn could not care less about being released at the moment.

“What happened to you, Winter? You should go see a doctor.”

The shorter woman refused to give her an answer. Instead, she mumbled. “Just follow me and _please_ be quiet.”

Since Winter swiftly turned around and started walking, Robyn could only do as she asked. She was surprised again when she saw Qrow waiting in a corner.

“Hey, Bird Man,” Robyn greeted the man.

“Hey, Bird Girl,” Qrow replied and quickly added after Robyn narrowed her eyes at him. “Woman.”

“Nice save,” Robyn muttered.

“Can you two please be quiet?” Winter asked with annoyance as she was walking between the two of them.

Now that Robyn thought about it, the area was awfully empty as if someone had dismissed all the personnels, someone with high authority like Winter. And the fact that the Special Operative kept checking every hallway before she stepped out only confirmed Robyn’s assumption.

Her lips quirked up as she leaned slightly towards the shorter woman. She whispered only because Winter had just asked her to be quiet.

“Ironwood didn’t let us go, did he? I can’t believe _you_ of all people are doing this behind his back.”

The white-haired woman stopped abruptly in her tracks. She turned to Robyn with a hint of anger on her face.

“I’m doing this to save those people in Mantle. Salem is here and we need _all_ Huntsmen and Huntresses available to evacuate the citizens and protect them,” the Operative said rapidly and pointed at the double door at the end of the corridor. “The exit is right there, so can you please shut up until we’re outside?”

_What?!_ Robyn thought as she was unable to pay attention to what Winter said after the mention of Salem.

“Salem is here?!” Qrow asked in shock. “The pipsqueaks...”

“We’re going to find them, Qrow,” Winter said determinedly.

Before they could move further, a door opened behind them and two prison guards showed up with guns in their hands.

One of them announced. “Special Operative Schnee, we’ve been informed that you released the prisoners without an authorization from the General.”

“Shit,” Robyn cursed and instantly shot an arrow at one of the guards while Qrow shot at the other.

It seemed that the guards were down and lost their consciousness, so the three of them ran to the exit, or in Winter’s case, walked as quickly as she could. The double door was only a few meters away when the Special Operative collapsed and Robyn and Qrow grabbed her arms to hold her up just in time.

“You seriously need medical attention, _Snowflake_ ,” Robyn suggested with worries and earned an eyebrow quirk from Winter.

She suddenly realized that she had not called her by that nickname for so long. It just slipped out and it certainly did not matter now when Winter was in this condition.

“N-no,” the white-haired woman argued and looked between Robyn and Qrow. “Leave me here. Go to… go to Mantle and save those people. And… and find my sister. Find Wei-...”

Winter’s word was cut off when she passed out.

“There’s no way I’m leaving you,” Robyn said and scooped the other woman up in a bridal carry despite the pain in her stomach.

They managed to get outside and Qrow blocked the door with a dumpster. The clouds were dreadfully dark with red lightnings occasionally flashing through them.

“What are you planning to do, Robyn?” Qrow asked and motioned to the white-haired woman in Robyn’s arms.

“Like she said, we’re going to Mantle. I just need to ask my friend to pick us up,” Robyn replied while putting Winter down on the ground and leaning her back against the wall. “Then I’ll have to get Winter somewhere safe.”

“I know a guy who can heal her,” the black-haired man suggested.

“What?”

“Give me your scroll. I’ll give you his number.”

Robyn did as requested wordlessly. When Qrow returned her scroll, there was a picture of a blond boy with the word ‘Jaune Arc’ written underneath.

“Oh, it’s the Stop Sign boy,” Robyn observed.

  
  
“Yeah, just call and ask him to meet you,” Qrow said and added. “I gotta go find the kids.”

“What? How? You don’t even have an airsh-...”

Robyn’s speech was halted when Qrow turned into a black bird and flew away right in front of her eyes.

_I probably have a concussion._ Robyn thought and blinked a few times.

She quickly got over her shock and dialed May, and the blue-haired Huntress picked up after the first ring.

“Robyn? Where the hell have you been?”

“Prison,” Robyn said briefly and added before her friend could say anything. “Where I need you to pick us up now. We’re behind the main building.”

“Us? We?”

  
  
“Just come here ASAP, May.”

She hung up when she could see two Operatives entering the area, which she reacted by picking Winter up and moving to hide behind a bush. She laid Winter’s head on her lap and checked her pulse. It was steady, but her wounds were in dire need to be treated.

Fortunately, the Operatives eventually left, but Robyn continued to be on the lookout and constantly checked Winter’s condition. She was later startled when May called out her name right behind her and almost screamed when only May’s head was floating in the air.

“I _hate_ when you do that,” Robyn complained.

“It’s always fun to see your reaction,” May replied with a chuckle.

“Are we safe to get up now?”

“Yeah, nobody can see us in a five-meter radius.”

“Cool,” Robyn said and picked Winter up in her arms again, which earned a gasp from May now that she could clearly see who Robyn was with.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is going on here?” the blue-haired woman asked in panic.

“She’s badly injured, okay? We need to take her somewhere safe. I’m thinking the bunker.”

“ _Our_ bunker?” May asked and widened her eyes. “Robyn, are you crazy?! That’s a whole Special Operative Schnee in your arms! Ironwood’s freaking right hand!”

“She just broke me out of prison, so they probably want to arrest her too. So please, May, trust me on this.”

The younger woman took a few seconds to think and let out a sigh.

“Fine. Give me her scroll.”

“What?”

May replied by searching for Winter’s scroll, which was found in her right pocket. She then broke the device in half with her heel.

“What did you do that for?!” Robyn asked.

“We can’t risk it, okay? What if her boss calls her? What if she calls her boss?”

“Gods, she’s going to kill me.”

“Is it me or you kind of care about her?” May asked and squinted at Robyn.

“We shared some classes back at the Academy. We have, like,...,” Robyn said and rolled her eyes as she was trying to come up with the right words. “Mutual respect, I think.”

May sighed again and said. “All right, I’m taking her with us. Don’t make me regret this.”

“You won’t,” Robyn said firmly.

They got on the airship the Happy Huntresses stole a while ago, and Robyn let out a groan after she set Winter down and put the seat belt on for her.

“What happened to you?” May asked with concern.

“I was in an airship crash and I guess I broke my ribs.”

“Fuck. Strap in. I’m taking both of you to the bunker,” May replied.

Robyn did so and asked. “What’s going on out there, May?”

“Grimms are everywhere. They keep coming no matter how many of them we kill. And I’m pretty sure I saw a big whale floating around when I was on the way here.”

_Maybe that’s Salem._ Robyn thought, but she decided to keep the information to herself because she did not want to freak her friend out.

Instead, she asked. “Are Fiona and Joanna okay?”

“Yep, they’re helping with the evacuation.”

“Did you see those teenage Huntsmen and Huntresses by any chance?”

“Yeah, they’re helping too.”

“Was the girl with a big white braid with them?”

“Yeah. Why are you asking?”

“Winter is worried about her,” she mumbled and turned to look at the white-haired woman, feeling relieved that they now knew where her sister was.

When her gaze returned to May, the blue-haired Huntress was smirking.

“ _Winter_ , huh?” May teased. “How close were you with her?”

“Just shut up and focus on flying,” Robyn told her friend as she realized that her crush on Winter might have not really gone away.

They finally arrived in Mantle and May landed the airship in front of the old building where the bunker was located. The underground compartment was built back in the Great War days and was miraculously still usable. It was where the Happy Huntresses kept the supplies they stole before they would be distributed later.

Robyn carried Winter in her arms and waited while May punched in the code to open the hatch that was hidden under a carpet. The blue-haired woman instantly moved to help Robyn carrying the Special Operative once they were inside and walking down the stairs.

They laid Winter down on the sofa and May turned to Robyn.

“What now?”

“There’s someone who can heal her. I’m gonna call and ask him to come here.”

“Why are you keeping telling people about our bunker?” May asked in frustration.

“It’s the only place she can be safe, okay? Both from the Grimms and Ironwood’s people.”

May huffed, but she finally nodded. Then she added thoughtfully. “You should get healed too, you know?”

“I’m fine. I’m gonna dress Winter’s wounds and we can go.”

Her friend rolled her eyes and poked Robyn’s ribs with her index finger, which caused a loud yelp from Robyn.

“You’re not in condition to fight, so sit your ass down and stay with your ex,” May said and crossed her arms.

“Wha-... she’s not-...”

Before Robyn could finish the sentence, May disappeared into thin air as she always did when she was trying to avoid an argument.

“Real mature, May,” Robyn muttered and left to get the first aid kit in the bathroom.

She came back to see May appear again at the top of the stairs.

The blue-haired Huntress uttered as she opened the hatch. “Bye, Robyn.”

“Don’t you dare,” Robyn warned as she ran after her.

Unfortunately, May went outside before Robyn could reach her. And the loud sound of metal clanking meant May used the bolt to keep her from opening the hatch from the inside.

“Gods, damn it, May!” Robyn cursed.

There was nothing else to do but to tend to Winter’s wounds. She walked down the stairs and moved an armchair to the front of the sofa. Then she took her coat off and put it under the other woman’s head. Her gaze dropped to Winter’s peaceful sleeping face, and a smile formed on her lips as she thought of their past.

Winter was two years younger than her, but she was skillful enough that the Headmaster let her take some senior classes. At first, Robyn assumed that her family name had something to do with this privilege, but her speculation was later proven wrong as soon as they sparred in a class. Winter clearly knew what she was doing and she fully earned Robyn’s respect as well as her affection.

The best word to describe them would be ‘friendly rivals’ as they were always the tops in classes. They did not talk much except for the bantering during their spars that Robyn usually started, which somehow led to their out-of-class training at the Atlas Academy’s gym where they agreed to share their strengths and fix their weaknesses.

The training lasted a few months until an incident where Robyn landed on top of Winter and their faces were only a few inches apart. Robyn was pretty sure they almost kissed if not for the class bell, and after that, Winter refused to meet her at the gym again.

They indeed grew apart and their friendship was reduced to just polite nodding when they saw each other, but Robyn tried not to think much about it since she believed that it was best to stay away from anyone from the Schnee family despite how much she liked Winter. And when Winter joined the army, Robyn was completely over her.

At least she thought so until she saw a glimpse of the same Winter she liked at Jacques Schnee’s dinner party, and now she was worried sick about her as she was going to dress her wounds.

Winter whimpered in pain when Robyn cleaned the wounds on her forehead and arm before putting bandages on them, yet the younger woman continued to doze off. It was when Robyn cleaned the wound on her nose that her blue eyes popped open.

“Hey, Snowflake,” Robyn said softly and put a small bandage on her nose. “I’m just taking care of your wounds. Here, it’s all done.”

Winter looked confused for a few seconds until she abruptly got up and pointed her sword at Robyn’s throat.

“Did you kidnap me, Miss Hill?!” the white-haired woman asked furiously.

Robyn swat the weapon away and it fell out of Winter’s hand with ease. That was how much Winter had lost her strength.

“The prison guards found out you freed me and Qrow, remember? And _Miss Hill,_ huh? I thought we were friends,” Robyn said and ignored the fact that it hurt that Winter called her by her last name. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter anyway since you kind of stopped talking to me.”

There was a short moment that Winter expressed regret in her eyes, but she retorted.

“Oh, I wonder why.”

“Maybe because you joined the army,” Robyn muttered, purposefully not mentioning their moment at the school’s gym.

“I was talking about you and your Happy Huntresses making it hard to do my job.”

“Please. We both know you slightly agree with the things we do.”

Winter ignored what Robyn said and dropped her gaze down to her wrapped arm. She then attempted to stand up.

“Thank you for this. I have to go.”

The Operative flopped back down in seconds and desperately tried to stand up again.

Robyn told her. “You’re hurt, okay? You should lie down. I’m about to call Jaune to come heal you.”

“I’m fine,” Winter said stubbornly. “It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”

Robyn responded by quirking an eyebrow at Winter and looked down at her own index finger that was poking the younger woman’s knee. The finger was flashing red.

“Fine,” Winter replied with her teeth gritted and pulled her knee away, still refusing to lie down.

“Well, sitting is good enough,” Robyn said and got up from her seat. “Now sit tight. I’m gonna go put the first aid kit back in the cabinet and call Jaune.”

She left to the bathroom and returned the kit back to its place before she called to ask Jaune to come heal Winter and herself. She had just finished texting him the bunker’s location and the hatch’s code when she came out to find Winter at the bottom of the stairs using her saber as a cane to support herself.

“Seriously?” Robyn asked and rushed to her side.

She tried to take Winter’s arm, but the white-haired woman flinched away from her.

“I can’t just stay here and do nothing,” Winter said with her voice broken. “Don’t you understand? My sister is out there and it’s my job to protect everyone, and it doesn’t matter if I’m well.”

“I know that,” Robyn said softly. “But what about people who care about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“My ribs are broken and I wanted to go out there too, but my friend wouldn’t let me,” Robyn explained. “I was mad at her, but now I realized that if I went out there, my friends would keep looking over their shoulder to make sure I was okay instead of focusing on fighting the Grimms. You don’t want that, right?”

Winter was quiet for a moment, but she eventually agreed. “Right.”

“Now let’s get you back to the couch,” Robyn said and took Winter’s arm, feeling relieved that the younger woman let her this time.

“Your ribs are broken?” Winter asked with concern.

“Yeah. Jaune’s going to heal both of us,” Robyn replied with a smile. “So let’s just chill for a while, okay?”

Winter laid down on the sofa and Robyn sat down on the armchair. After that, Robyn checked Jaune’s location on her scroll and found that he was only five minutes away.

“Jaune will be here soon,” she told the other woman.

“Okay,” Winter noted.

The Special Operative then fumbled on her right pocket and her expression turned into panic.

“Where is my scroll?” she asked.

“Well,” Robyn started while trying to come up with how to explain. “It’s, umm, at the prison, I think.”

“It has information on Weiss’ Aura. Without it, I can never know how she’s doing,” Winter said quickly and added. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here. I have to go find her.”

Winter got up again, and Robyn had to grab her shoulders and gently shove her down, which Winter responded by kneeing her ribs.

“Ouch!” Robyn yelped in pain and added. “Jaune is coming, so why don’t you just wait and ask him about Weiss?”

“Let me go!” Winter said relentlessly and managed to get out of Robyn’s grasp.

The Operative successfully stood up only to fall backwards on the couch again while her breath became labored.

“See? That’s what you get from being so stubborn,” Robyn teased.

Winter did not reply. Instead, she closed her eyes and her body started to tremble, which caused Robyn to jump to her side and moved Winter to lie down on her lap.

“Winter, what’s happening? Talk to me,” she asked the younger woman.

“I don’t… I don’t feel so well.”

Robyn took off her glove and rested the back of her hand on Winter’s forehead. She almost jerked her hand away when she could feel how hot Winter’s skin was.

“Fuck, Winter, you’re burning up,” Robyn mumbled and added. “I’m gonna go find some ice.”

“No,” Winter said and grabbed Robyn’s arm as hard as she could in her state. “Stay.”

“Of course,” Robyn said softly and used her fingers to move a few white strands away from Winter’s face.

“Robyn,...” the Special Operative uttered weakly. “I think I’m… d-dying.”

What she said shocked Robyn and she barely noticed that Winter called her by her first name.

“You’re not dying, okay? Jaune is on his way here.”

“N-no, listen to me,” Winter said. “Tell Weiss, Whitley, my m-mother and Klein I l-love them.”

“Winter, you’re not going to die,” Robyn told her firmly and reached for her hand.

“And tell my father…”

“What? Him too?”

“...to rot in hell.”

The words put a smile on Robyn’s face despite the tears that were swelling up in her eyes because she was afraid of losing Winter.

“You can tell him later yourself, Snowflake,” she said softly.

“Robyn,” Winter spoke again and stared into Robyn’s eyes. “I’m s-sorry I stopped t-talking to you.”

“It’s okay,” Robyn replied and gently stroked Winter’s cheek with her thumb. “When this is all over, I’m taking you to some place nice… as friends or whatever.”

“That w-would be nice,” Winter replied. Her voice became so quiet that Robyn had to lean down to listen to her. “If I w-wasn’t currently d-dying.”

“Hey, maybe you should chill on the D word,” Robyn said sternly.

Somehow her words made Winter smile that cute smile that Robyn missed so much.

The younger woman mumbled. “This is like... that e-evening at the g-gym.”

With that, Robyn realized that their faces were so close, but what surprised her the most was the fact that Winter remembered what happened that evening.

Before she could say anything, Winter used what was left of her strength to prop up on her elbows and pressed her lips against Robyn’s.

The kiss was light like a feather touching her skin and it lasted less than a second before Winter passed out again, and Robyn caressed the other woman’s face for the second time.

She mumbled adoringly. “You always have to be so dramatic.”

It took a few minutes until the hatch was unlocked and Jaune rushed down the stairs.

“Miss Hill, I’m sorry it took so long,” the boy told Robyn. “There were so many Grimms on the way here.”

“It’s okay,” Robyn replied and asked. “How does this work?”

“I’m going to amplify her Aura to help her heal faster.”

“I see,” Robyn noted while Winter was still lying on her lap. “Go ahead.”

The boy touched Winter’s arm and her Aura showed. The process went on for a short moment until Winter regained her consciousness again just after her black eye was completely gone.

“Hey, Miss Schnee,” Jaune greeted and added. “I’m healing you. Don’t you worry, ma’am. I did this before when Weiss was impaled.”

“She what?!” Winter asked in panic.

“Ah, I-I’ll let Weiss tell you the whole story,” the boy said frantically.

“Is Weiss okay?” Winter said.

“Yep, she just boarded an airship to Atlas,” Jaune replied and added. “Please let me know when you don’t feel any pain anymore.”

Winter gave him a nod and her eyes moved to where Robyn was holding her hand, and Robyn smiled when the younger woman did not pull away from her touch.

“I think I’m feeling well now, Jaune. Thank you,” Winter told the blond boy a few minutes later.

“Sure thing,” Jaune noted and turned to Robyn. “Now it’s your turn.”

“Okay,” Robyn replied while Winter sat up from her lap and Robyn instantly missed her warmth.

The Operative announced. “I’m going to go clean up.”

Robyn and Jaune nodded at her and began the healing process. It felt numb at first until she could feel pain while her ribs moved and got back in their places. Then she felt nothing.

“I think that should do it. Thanks, Jauney.”

“J-Jaune is okay,” the boy replied and scratched the back of his head.

“I’m gonna go check on Winter,” Robyn said and walked to the bathroom.

She knocked once and Winter opened the door right away.

“You’re ready to go?” Robyn asked.

Winter’s eyes dropped on the floor and she mumbled. “Robyn, about what happened earlier...”

“Let me guess,” Robyn cut her off. “You’re gonna tell me it was all fever babbling and you didn’t mean to kiss me?”

“No,” Winter said firmly and her cheeks immediately flushed. “I-I want to do it again… properly this time.”

Robyn smiled and stepped forward. She leaned down in an attempt to kiss the shorter woman, but she was stopped when Winter pressed her fingers against her lips and gently pushed her away.

“Not in front of him,” Winter told Robyn and wore a sheepish smile on her face.

They both turned to look at Jaune who abruptly turned around and looked up at the ceiling.

“Right,” Robyn noted and added. “When you’re around, I kind of forget other people exist.”

Winter reacted by punching Robyn’s arm. Judging from the punch, the Operative was truly back at her full strength.

“I can’t believe I still like you,” Winter said and rolled her eyes.

“Still?” Robyn asked and grinned widely while rubbing her arm where Winter punched her. “Oh, Snowflake, I’m gonna need you to tell me all about your crush on me.”

“Not now,” Winter uttered.

“I know,” Robyn replied and reached her hand out. “Shall we go kick some asses?”

Winter took her hand and nodded. And Robyn knew they could handle anything.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said in an A/N of my multi-chapter fic that I would take a break, but like, this one-shot idea took over my brain and I had no self-control. 😂😅
> 
> Hope you like this fic! 😊


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